Everwild

CHAPTER 17 The Death Boss

Mary allowed her reputation to precede her. In fact, she pushed it ahead of her with a mighty hand. As the Hindenburg cut a slow path across the sky, she would send out emissaries ahead of her, with copies of her various books. Then those emissaries would strategically spread stories about her to any Afterlights who would listen-which was just about everyone, for Afterlights all love the telling of stories. Mary's disciples would spread tales of wonder, and proudly tell the stories of Mary's many good deeds. If the stories themselves didn't leave kids gaping in awe, the sight of the massive airship descending from the sky certainly would.

Because Mary had a high regard for honesty, she insisted that they be told only that which was true. Of course she handchose her emissaries of good will, selecting loyal Afterlights who would portray her in the most favorable light.

Mary's emissaries arrived in Chicago several weeks before she did, and so, by the time the Hindenburg came in over Lake Michigan, there was not an Afterlight in all of Chicago who had not heard her name and didn't wonder if the stories were true.

Mary had Speedo circle the city three times so every Afterlight below would have a clear view of it. Speedo was clearly apprehensive.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Speedo asked her. He had asked this over and over again, as if asking might get her to change her mind. "There's got to be a reason why the kids we sent out never came back."

"We'll discover the reason soon enough."

On the second loop above the city, Mary decided where they'd set down. It was a city full of deadspots, thanks to the great Chicago fire-but one place stood out. Mary recognized it as the grounds of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition-a giant world's fair. It was more than a mile across-the largest deadspot Mary had ever seen-and even from this height, Mary could see it was quite literally swarming with Afterlights.

"There," said Mary, pointing at the largest square, in the center of the fairgrounds. "That's where we'll set down."

Speedo quaked in his wet bathing suit. "But shouldn't we land somewhere away from the city? Far, far away?"

"No, Speedo," Mary said calmly. "This time, I want to be right in the thick of it."

Their standard operating procedure had always been to settle in less populated areas, set up their various soul traps, then return sometime later to see if the traps had sprung. Then, as the population within the Hindenburg grew, she became slightly more daring, setting down in small towns and villages that might have some rudimentary organization to their Afterlight population.

She would address the small gatherings of Afterlights in these towns. Sometimes they would join her, and climb aboard, sometimes not. If they chose not to join her, she would leave them with whatever gifts she could spare, and the nagging feeling that they missed out on something wonderful. By the time she came to Chicago, she had ninety-three Afterlights in her protective care.

"The city's run by a Death Boss!" said Speedo. "That's what he calls himself! A Death Boss!"

"Just a rumor," Mary said, although she suspected that the rumor was true. She had heard that he even named himself after the city's most notorious gangster. "Last month you were telling me that Chicago didn't even exist!"

"I didn't say that," said Speedo. "I said that it didn't exist in Everlost."

"And yet now we know that it does," Mary pointed out. "Illumination defeats ignorance every time."

"What if he captures us and turns us into slaves?" pleaded Speedo. "Then what?"

"Dictators who rule with an iron fist are motivated by self-interest," Mary lectured, "and if Pugsy Capone does rule like a dictator, it would not serve his interests to enslave us."

"Are you sure of that?"

Mary sighed. "No," she admitted. "But we're going anyway."

They circled the city a final time, then descended toward the grounds of the Columbian Exhibition.***

The World Columbian Exhibition of 1893 was perhaps the greatest world's fair there had ever been. It filled a full square-mile along the shore of Lake Michigan, and looked more like Ancient Rome than Chicago. Magnificent domed buildings, column-lined courtyards, and glorious fountains stood at the heart of the fair, all of it so alabaster white it became known as the Great White City-blinding in the sun, and glowing mystically by moonlight. These towering colonnades and hallowed halls of industry stood as monuments to the power and permanence of man's creations.

Unfortunately it was all made of cheap plaster, and crumbled like a sandcastle once the fair was over.

However, the loss to the living world was a gift to Everlost. Here in Everlost, the Great White City still claimed the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The gilded Statue of the Republic forever towered resolutely at its heart, and George Ferris's great wheel-the original Ferris wheel-continued to turn relentless circles-still the tallest piece of Chicago to cross into Everlost.

In short, the place was larger than life, but then, so was Mary Hightower, and she orchestrated her arrival with royal style.

The Hindenburg settled in the "court of honor," the great courtyard at the heart of the White City, touching down in the reflecting pool that so eerily matched the giant zeppelin in size and shape, it appeared to belong there, fitting like a key in a lock. All around the court of honor, hundreds upon hundreds of Chicago Afterlights gathered to gawk as a ramp descended, and Mary's Afterlights marched out two by two, into the shallow reflecting pool in size order. They then parted, and faced inward, creating a gauntlet; a pathway of Afterlights for Mary to walk between.

They stood at attention, and all waited in silent anticipation. Then Mary emerged, walking slowly, regally, her green velvet dress just brushing the surface of the ankle-deep pool, making her appear to walk on water. She strode to the edge of the reflecting pool and then stopped, waiting patiently for the Chicago Afterlights to dredge up the nerve to approach her. They all looked downtrodden and scared, with circles under their wide eyes that gave them the disconcerting look of zombies-but those eyes weren't empty and mindless, they were full of dread-the first indication that all the rumors about Pugsy Capone were true.

Finally, a young girl, the bravest of these timid Afterlights, approached her and asked, "Are you here to send the Death Boss to hell?"

The question challenged Mary's balance, but only for an instant. She smiled at the girl warmly. "I'm here to help," she said. "Please tell Mr. Capone that Mary Hightower has come to see him."

The girl ran off, and Mary waited patiently, refusing to engage any of the other Afterlights in conversation, because she knew that would challenge Pugsy's power, and she didn't want to do that. Not yet, anyway.

Ten minutes later the girl came back, running as quickly as she had run off.

"His eminence will see you now."

"His eminence!" said Mary. "Isn't that a title reserved for the Pope, and other holy men?" The girl looked down modestly. "I wouldn't know, your highness."

"You don't have to call me that," Mary said. "You can just call me Miss Mary."

"Yes, Miss Mary," the girl said dutifully, and when she looked up at Mary, she had the slightest hint of a smile- perhaps the first smile she'd had in ages.

She led Mary from the Court of Honor to a huge building labeled TRANSPORTATION. The doorway stood beneath a high golden arch. Apparently the boss of Chicago was receiving her with royal treatment.

"They said to bring you here," said the girl, but she wouldn't step over the threshold into the building.

"They?" asked Mary. "Whom do you mean?"

Suddenly figures emerged from the dark doorway, and hands grabbed her arms more forcefully than she was accustomed to.

"She means us."

They pulled her inside, shut the door in the little girl's face, and Mary was pulled forward into a huge, dimly lit space the size of an airplane hangar by a trio of beefy thugs.

The Hall of Transportation had been stripped of any transportation whatsoever. The towering space was empty except for a single wing-footed statue of Mercury in the center, to which the three thugs chained Mary, and as they closed the shackles around her wrists and ankles, she felt all her hopes fizzle.

"Which one of you buffoons is Pugsy Capone?" Mary snarled, disturbed not only by her situation, but by the viciousness of her own voice. She thought she could find poise in every circumstance. Apparently not.

"The Death Boss has better things to do than deal with prisoners," said the largest of the thugs. It appeared the "Death Boss" chose his personal foot soldiers for their strength, their intimidating faces, and for the clothes they had been wearing when they died. All three of them wore suits. From different time periods, of course, but suits nonetheless. They were all fifteen or so, although they looked older in their suits. The gray-suited thug to her right stepped forward, and recited for her the same thing he probably recited to every Afterlight unlucky enough to stumble into this miserable enclave.

"You are now a subject of Pugsy Capone, and as such, you have no rights beyond the ones Mr. Capone gives you, if any. You will speak only when spoken to, you will perform all tasks given to you. You will cast your eyes to the ground when Mr. Capone or any of us pass. Should you disobey any of these orders, you will be gagged, tied to a cinder block, and hurled out into the living world, where you will sink quickly to the center of the earth. Do you understand these things as they've been explained to you? Do you need anything repeated?"

They waited for Mary's response, but she said nothing, just glared at them, refusing to cast her eyes the slightest bit downward.

The gray-suited thug got right in her face and shouted, "I said, do you need anything repeated?"

"No," she finally said. "How long will I be imprisoned here?" "No questions!" he shouted. Then he said, "You'll stay like this as long as he wants you to. Maybe a month, maybe a year, maybe forever."

Speedo had been right-if only she had listened to him. She could only hope that Pugsy Capone would be curious enough to come see her himself-if only to gloat over his victory. A face-to-face encounter could only help her situation.

Mary finally cast her eyes down, and, satisfied, the gray-suited thug stepped back. "Your blimp is now the property of the Death Boss," he said, "and so are all your Afterlights."

Mary tugged at her chains but it did no good. Her miscalculation had not only cost Mary her own freedom, but her children as well. The anguish stabbed as deep as a blade in living flesh, but she would not let it show. Instead, she said with all the defiance she could muster, "It's not a blimp. Any imbecile can tell you it's a rigid airship."

To which the largest of the thugs calmly replied, "It is whatever Pugsy Capone says it is."

Then they left her there to stew in her own intentions, chained to a flying statue that couldn't fly.

Pugsy Capone, Death Boss of Chicago, Lord of the White City, was a very shrewd Afterlight. Shrewd enough to have trapped almost a thousand Afterlights under his "protection." He was a spirit who not only saw afterlife as a competition, but as a competition where points were scored by creating the greatest amount of misery. The thought of dethroning the infamous "Mary Queen of Snots," was the stuff of dreams for him, and had a very high point value, indeed. However, as Mary had hoped, the thrill of capturing her eventually gave way to his curiosity. It took a while-mainly because he had a new toy: the Hindenburg, which he insisted on calling a blimp, and no one dared to correct him-not even Speedo, who was told he'd be sleeping with the magma if he didn't pilot Pugsy anywhere he wanted to go.

It took a week for him to tire of tooling around the airspace above Chicago, and then his thoughts turned to the legendary girl sealed away in the Hall of Transportation. He would not lower himself to go to her; however, he had his three favored foot soldiers bring her to him.

After a week, Mary's spirit had not been broken. It would take more than shackles and solitude to humble Mary Hightower-although there were a few times that she became a bit delirious, and fantasized about Nick putting their battle aside, and barreling into Chicago on his train to rescue her. Her own fantasy infuriated her, because Mary was not, nor would ever be, a damsel in distress.

Finally Pugsy's boys arrived, unshackled her, and led her out into daylight, toward the giant Ferris wheel. She held herself high all the way there. Her presence there drew crowds that were quickly dispersed when the thugs gave them the evil eye.

The Ferris wheel was more than a mere amusement park ride. Its long rectangular gondolas were the size of railroad cars, each one capable of carrying dozens of people to vertigo-inducing heights. The door to the lowermost gondola was open, and Mary was led inside to what must have been the Death Boss's throne room.

The throne was a red leather armchair, and the boy who sat in it was not at all what Mary expected. Pugsy Capone was a chubby thirteen-year-old in a pinstriped double-breasted suit that was noticeably tight. Mary wondered whether Pugsy immediately decided that since he was stuck wearing the clothes of a gangster, he ought to be one, or if he had simply forgotten who he was, and so defined himself by his attire. Mary suspected he had been in Everlost at least fifty years, by the style of his suit.

It was easy to see how Pugsy had gotten his name. He had unpleasantly bulging eyes, and his nose was pushed up and back, exposing his nostrils, as if he had died while pressing his face up against a window. He looked so much like a pug dog, Mary half expected him to bark.

His thugs took their place behind him, and folded their arms, taking on a posture of invulnerability and arrogance. There was also someone else present-a girl who lurked in a corner, looking on with mild interest. She had waves of unkempt blond hair filled with nettles and thorns, skin so tan it was difficult to determine her race, and a gaudy pendant with a sky-blue gem hanging around her neck. Mary found the girl's cool gaze more disconcerting than Pugsy's bug-eyed glare.

"I'm willing to listen to your pleas of mercy," Pugsy said in a voice that would forever crack between octaves, having not finished changing while he was alive.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," said Mary, "but you'll be hearing no pleas of mercy from me."

Pugsy shifted uncomfortably in his big armchair.

"What have you done with my children?" Mary asked.

The thug in the gray suit spoke up. "Who said you could ask questions?" But Pugsy put up his hand to silence him. "I've put them in storage until I decide what to do with them. As for you, I was thinking it might be fun to chain you to the center of the Ferris wheel and watch you go round and round. What do you think?"

Mary fought back her urge to scold him for being such a thoroughly vile little urchin, and instead offered him her kindest smile.

"Come now," she said, "surely the Death Boss of Chicago is above such pettiness. You must realize I'm far more useful as an ally than an ornament."

That gave him pause for thought. If he hadn't realized it before, he was ready to consider it now. Here was the chance Mary had hoped for!

"You've built quite a civilization here in Chicago," Mary told him. "You are to be congratulated."

"Flattery from the Sky Witch! You really must want something from me!" He chuckled softly, and his henchmen took it as their cue to chuckle loudly.

"Do not call me that," she said, forcefully but respectfully. "My name is Mary Hightower, and it is the only name I answer to,"

"I know your name," said Pugsy, with an air of disgust in his voice. "So are you gonna tell me why you trespassed on my property?"

"I believe it's best if we discuss matters of importance alone," Mary said. His thugs looked ready to stand their ground, and Mary noticed the girl in the corner smile, perhaps impressed with Mary's boldness.

Pugsy looked to his thugs. "Send us up to the top, and wait for me on the ground," he told them.

"Yes, boss," they said, ever obedient.

Then he turned to the girl. "Why don't you go skinjack someone, and get today's sports scores."

It was the first thing that Pugsy said that really caught Mary by surprise.

"Whatever you say," said the girl with a toss of her crazy, nettle-nested hair, then she sauntered out behind the three thugs, eyeing Mary all the way.

In a moment the Ferris wheel grinded into motion, and the large car began a long, slow arc up and away.

"You trust a skinjacker?" Mary asked him.

"Sure," said Pugsy, "she comes in very useful-no matter what you say in your books."

"So, you've read my books, then?"

"Only what I could stomach."

"You should attempt to 'stomach' more," Mary suggested. "I've shared all the things I've discovered here-all the things I know."

"Yeah, well I know things too."

Pugsy stood up and went to a window to admire the view. Mary knew he wasn't very tall, but she didn't realize how short and stocky he was until he stood up.

"So now that we're alone, are you gonna tell me why you're here?"

Mary decided to take the direct approach. "I propose an alliance between you and me. A partnership between equals."

That made him laugh. "Equals? How do you figure that?" And he gestured out the window at his vast land holdings. "I have no need to look," she said. "My view from the Hindenburg is just as grand as yours."

"Oh," said Pugsy, "but this view is priceless."

Finally Mary looked. They had just crested the peak of the Ferris wheel, and as they began the journey downward, the car next to them came into view. To Mary's horror, it was packed with children-Mary's children-every last one of them. They had been packed into that car like sardines. This is what Pugsy meant by "storage."

"It's amazing," said Pugsy. "Afterlights can fit into whatever space you want them to. All ninety-three of yours are in there."

Mary couldn't find words to express her disgust.

"So you see," said Pugsy. "I hold all the chips. You gotta do whatever I say, or they're the ones that'll suffer."

Mary swallowed her urge to slap him silly, and spoke slowly, making sure all her words had time to sink in through his thick skull. "Treating me as an equal will elevate you far more than you can imagine."

"Is that so?" He sneered.

"Yes, it is." Then she put aside all modesty, false or otherwise. "In Everlost I am seen as a queen, an angel, a witch, an enchantress. I did not chose this, of course, but the fact remains that I am the stuff of legend. If you imprison me, you are a mere jail keeper. But

… if you rise to be my equal, you will become legendary as well."

"I already am legendary."

Mary laughed dismissively. "Your infamy does not spread as far as you'd like to believe," she told him. "East of Pittsburgh, and south of Indianapolis, I doubt anyone has ever heard of you. And those who have heard of you, consider you… well… a gangster. But an alliance with me would legitimize what you've done here."

"And what's in it for you?" Pugsy asked.

Mary had anticipated the question. In this, she chose to be direct as well. "No doubt you've heard of the Chocolate Ogre," Mary said.

"I thought he was made-up."

"No, he's very real. In a single day he could empty Chicago, so that not a single Afterlight remained under your 'protection.'"

"I'd like to see him try," said Pugsy.

"Don't underestimate him; he's very cunning," Mary warned. "But with enough Afterlights, I can defeat him."

She crossed to the other side of the car, giving him time to think about it. As she did, her velvet dress brushed against the back of the red leather armchair. She wondered if it was as comfortable as it looked.

"So… "said Pugsy, "you intend to build an army, is that it?"

"Oh, please!" Mary waved away the suggestion. "An army implies a war. I will not have a war… but I will protect Everlost from those who might wreak havoc on the order that you and I try to create. No, we won't have an army, but we will have freedom fighters."

They reached the bottom of the wheel, and began to circle up once more.

"Agree to help me bring down the Chocolate Ogre," said Mary, "and I will give my heartfelt, personal blessing to you, as ruler of Chicago, and-dare I say it-with my stamp of approval, you could conceivably spread your reign to the rest of Everlost."

Pugsy was dazzled by the concept. "I'd be the EverBoss!" he said.

Mary tried not to cringe. "If you wish."

As they crested the peak again, they both looked to the next car, where Mary's children peered out, hopelessly cramped and tangled in their rotating cell.

"So," asked Mary, "which will it be? Jailer… or Emperor?"